Movie review
March 15, 2017 · 141 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Lost City of Z.
Woke representation / casting
Casting fits the 1900s-1920s British explorer setting and Amazon expeditions with no race or gender swaps and no visible modern diversity quotas or identity signaling in lead roles.
Woke political dialogue
A few lines critique ethnocentrism, imperialism, and male supremacy in historical context, but they remain infrequent and not presented as modern lectures.
Identity-driven story themes
The core story focuses on personal obsession, family cost, and exploration; it lightly shows Fawcett challenging the era's racist views on indigenous peoples without centering modern identity politics or representation messaging.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The film shows the British scientific and military establishment as snobbish and racially prejudiced, with Fawcett portrayed as more open to indigenous knowledge and some implicit nods to imperialism's downsides like resource exploitation, though not framed as contemporary activism.
Review
The Lost City of Z is a 2017 biographical adventure drama directed and written by James Gray. It follows real-life British explorer Percy Fawcett's obsessive expeditions into the Amazon from 1906 to the 1920s in search of evidence for a lost ancient civilization, while showing the heavy toll on his wife Nina and family. The film includes mild historical context on the era's racist attitudes toward indigenous peoples and Fawcett's belief in advanced native societies, plus sparse dialogue on imperialism and ethnocentrism, but these stay secondary to the personal story of ambition and endurance.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant | The adaptation follows Grann's book and documented history without ideological rewrites of Fawcett or events.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No meaningful right-leaning complaints exist accusing the film of pushing woke, DEI, or identity politics; reactions stayed focused on pacing and storytelling.
Creator track record context
James Gray has addressed racial biases and left-leaning personal themes in past films; Plan B producers Kleiner and Gardner bring experience with social-issue projects; remaining crew show neutral or low patterns.
Production
